


Negative Space

by SongsofPsyche



Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Bounty Hunters, Gen, Gordon-centric, Hostage Situations, Male Friendship, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Threats of Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-11 20:40:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18431696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SongsofPsyche/pseuds/SongsofPsyche
Summary: Ed Mercer fears the worst when a rescue mission goes wrong. Sometimes the aftermath is worse than the event itself.





	1. Act 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to try to write this like an actual 40 minute Orville episode, so hang in while I make the attempt. I have the majority of it written, so I should be up in a few days in whole. Pay heed to the tags, there is nothing graphic but lots of talk. First time writing in Orville fandom so go easy on me.

“EPA…. As in English pale ale or environmental protection agency?” Captain Ed Mercer asked Isaac as he held up a small silver bracelet with a round red button at the top.

 

“Neither, Captain. That is an emergency podcast alert system that Lieutenant LaMarr and I have been developing. In an emergency, you can press it and it will automatically broadcast to all audible devices in the first officers quarters. It is a way to call for help in case someone has breached your quarters and wants to harm you.”

 

“Okay. Thanks Isaac. I’m sure it will be very useful. Hopefully, I’ll never have to use it.” Ed said as he clipped it on his wrist.

 

“After what happened with Lieutenant Malloy and the Krill ship, we thought it would be necessary to create extra safety precautions.”

 

Ed nodded in agreement. Three days ago their ship had encountered a Krill vessel, and the Krill had taken several officers hostage, including Gordon Malloy. Ed had organized a rescue mission but it had taken them longer than he would have liked to get him back. Gordon had been the only survivor. He refused to talk about what happened on the Krill ship, and insisted that he was fine, in fact---.

 

There was a chime at the door.

 

“Come in!” Ed shouted

 

Bortus walked in, looking stern and presently disturbed.

 

“I found this among Topa’s playthings today.” He said, holding out a very real looking World War II sniper rifle.

 

“Wow, that’s impressive Bortus. It actually looks like a real---.”

 

“It is a functional gun. After further investigation, I found that Topa was able to access it using the synthesizers in my quarters. I am requesting that we disable this feature until further notice.”

 

Before Ed could answer, Kelly, walked into the office without bothering to knock.

 

“Malloy and LaMarr are playing zero gravity basketball in the docking area.” She said breathlessly as if she had just run up three flights of stairs.

 

“Oh wow---.” Ed started but was interrupted by the doors opening again, and Claire walked in.

 

“Yaphit just slimed all over my office again. If you can’t control your officers, Captain I am going to have to file a sexual harassment form with the union.”

 

“Against me? I know I’M a little disorganized, but Claire---.”

 

“Against Yaphit, I really don’t understand why----.”

 

“If a synthesized weapon got into the wrong hands---.”

 

“The emergency podcast system will automatically---.”

 

“If Malloy gets sucked into space I will not plan his funeral---.”

 

“ALRIGHT. Everybody just shut up for a minute and let me think.” Ed finally shouted, banging his hand down on his desk. This was not how he wanted his morning to go. It was 7:30 and he hadn’t even had his coffee yet. He just wanted everybody to leave.

 

“Isaac, thank you for the EPA or PAE or whatever it is. If there ever is an emergency I will use it. Bortus, go talk to engineering and deactivate the part of the synthesizers that can create weapons. Make it a ship law or something. Claire, I will talk to Yaphit and make sure he doesn’t bother you again. Kelly, go down into the loading docks and stop this….this…zero gravity soccer thing.” Ed said

 

“Basketball.”

 

“What?”

 

“Zero gravity basketball.” She clarified.

 

“Yes. Go stop it, and when you do bring those idiots up here so I can kill them.”

 

“Do you think that’s wise, sir?” Isaac interjected.

 

“What, Isaac?” he asked

 

“Killing Lieutenants Malloy and LaMarr would not be the most sensible, especially because currently Lieutenant LaMarr is the only one with the correct credentials who can pilot the ship while Lieutenant Malloy is recovering.”

 

Ed closed his eyes and internally winced. Since they had gotten him back, Gordon had not been himself. Yesterday morning he had arrived for his post, and it had been obvious that he hadn’t slept at all. He had actually fallen asleep at the helm, causing the ship to barely miss a flying comet. It was very unlike Gordon, and it was starting to make Ed worry about him. For the first time in their entire friendship, Gordon had nothing to say. He had become quiet and reserved, and absolutely refused to be alone with anybody, or let anyone touch him. Ed was starting to think that something worse than torture had happened on that Krill ship. Ed had given him a few days of extra sick leave so he could get some sleep and hopefully get better.

 

“If he’s feeling well enough to play zero gravity basketball, then he is well enough to get yelled at. Go, Kelly.” Ed finally said.

 

“Got it, sir,” Kelly said, and with a swift motion, she walked out of his office. Ed stared at everyone else, who was staring at him.

 

“Well, get to it! Chop chop!” Ed said, waving his hands at them. He sank down into his desk and watched them all file out. Being a captain was hard sometimes. When they were all gone, he walked over to his office synthesizer and pressed the button.

 

“One cannabis edible, please.” He said.

 

He watched the brownie appear on the plate.

 

He could already tell that today was going to be a cannabis edible kind of day.

 

**(Cue Orville opening credits)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going all Captain Hard Ass suddenly seemed like it was the total wrong thing to do. He thought if he could get Gordon to just tell him what was wrong, then maybe they could get started on fixing it.

The Orville cruised casually through space, passing by bright stars as it made its way through the blackness. A small vessel appeared, seemingly out of now where. It was oval shaped, with alien markings colored red along the side. It flickered a few times, and then it disappeared in the darkness. The space around the ship rippled softly as the ship continued to follow the Orville cloaked in darkness. The alien ship let down a length of metallic wire that attached itself to the larger vessel’s outer wing. The Orville pulled it along, obliviously to its new passenger. There, it waited for the right time to pounce.

 

Inside the Orville, Ed was sitting down at his desk and glaring up at John LaMarr and Gordon Malloy who both looked very guilty.

 

“I already have two reports of damaged equipment. All the scientific instruments in storage have been broken, Yaphit who was coming out of sickbay got sucked into the room and is still picking pieces of himself off the ceiling. What the hell were you two thinking?” Ed said sternly, looking between John and Gordon. Both men stood in front of him, with their hands by their sides. Neither of them was looking at him in the eye.

 

“It was my fault. In all honesty, sir. I thought it would be fun.” John said after a few beats of silence.

 

“You thought it would be fun to turn off the artificial gravity in the loading bay so you could play basketball?” Ed asked.

 

John looked up at him, and their eyes met. “Yes. I thought it would be fun. Those two men we lost were part of my engineering team. I thought if we could blow off some steam---.”

 

“But why in the loading bay? Why not in the simulator?” Ed said

 

John paused, and then his head dropped. “The simulator. We could have done it in the simulator. I hadn’t thought of that until right now.”

 

“Next time, use your brain. You are the head of engineering, I thought you were smarter than this.” He said, and then he turned to Gordon.

 

“I gave you sick leave so you could rest, not run amuck playing like an irresponsible kid.” He said. Gordon nodded his head but didn’t say anything.

 

“Captain---.” John started, but Ed kept talking.

 

“You are an officer of the union, you hold a responsibility to this ship and to me. When I asked the commander to have you as my pilot, I fought for you because I believed you had matured enough to be part of this crew. I fight every day for you and this is how you repay me?” Ed said, feeling his frustration with Gordon reach a boiling point.

 

Gordon remained silent and still, staring down at the floor. Ed saw the muscles moving in his face as he clenched his jaw tight. Then Ed realized that Gordon was battling for composure and all of a sudden he felt like the biggest jerk on the ship.

 

Ed straightened his back and looked back to John.

 

“This is your verbal warning. Next time something happens like this I will be forced to put a report on your record. Understand?”

 

John nodded his head.

 

“Yes. Sir.”

 

“Good. Dismissed. Gordon, stay here for a minute I want to ask you a few more questions.” Ed said

 

John left, the door swooshing softly behind him. Now they were alone together in Ed’s office. Gordon remained standing where he was, hands at his side and eyes cast to the ground. Ed then realized he had no idea what to say to Gordon. He had never done this before. Everything that came to his head either sounded just plain dumb ( _So you got tortured, eh? What a bummer!)_ or clichéd ( _I wish they had taken me instead of you. If I could go back in time and stop the Krill from coming I would….)._ Going all Captain Hard Ass suddenly seemed like it was the total wrong thing to do. He thought if he could get Gordon to just tell him what was wrong, then maybe they could get started on fixing it.

 

 

“Uh….” Ed started, and then stopped and paused.

 

“I…um…I am finishing up the report for the Krill attack. I need you to tell me what happened while you were held captive.” Ed finally said.

 

Gordon’s eyes flashed up in panic.

 

“I already told you, nothing happened to me.” He said quietly.

 

“That’s a lie, and you know it. Please, what happened to you, Gordon? Look at you, you’re shaking.” Ed said, and he stood up and took a step towards Gordon, reaching out his hand.

 

“You can tell---.” Ed started

 

“Stop.” The quiet whisper made Ed freeze. His arm stilled in the air, and he slowly closed his fingers into a fist and lowered his hand.

 

“Gordon---.”

 

“Please.”

 

“You haven’t been---.” Ed started, but then stopped when he saw his friend wince and then step away from him. Gordon moved to cross his arms over his chest, and Ed did not miss the shaking of his hands. Ed let out a sigh; maybe he was approaching this the wrong way? He needed to show Gordon that he could be trusted, of course, that was hard when Ed had just spent the last ten minutes yelling at John and Gordon for their little basketball fiasco in the docking bay.

 

“Come on, Gordon. It’s me. Ed. I’m your friend. You can tell me anything” Ed said

 

Gordon shook his head, “it’s not that simple.”

 

Ed took a step towards him, and in turn, Gordon backed away up to the window. He glanced outside into the empty space, refusing to look Ed in the eye.

 

“Gordon, look---.”

 

“Ed. Stop. I can’t even think about it right now. Let alone talk. I need…I need some space. Please”

 

“But I want to help you---.”

 

 _“_ Ed. I _can’t._ Not now, maybe not ever. It won’t go away, it won’t stop _”_ Gordon uncrossed his arms and put his hands on either side of his forehead as if he was trying to block the memories out.

 

Ed reached to touch Gordon, just as a gesture of camaraderie and Gordon flinched away as if Ed had burned him.

 

“Please. Don’t touch me.” He whispered.

 

_“Gordon.”_

 

Gordon then straightened up, putting his hands by his side. “Requesting permission to leave, sir”

 

The sudden change startled Ed.

 

“Uh, Okay. Forget about the report. I just wanted to ask, if you wanted to get a drink with me sometime? We haven’t talked in a while.” Ed said softly, changing his plans in mid air.

 

Gordon looked up at him and nodded his head.

 

“Okay.”

 

Ed watched his friend leave his office and then sunk into his chair. He turned to Kermit, who was sitting on his lampstand and seemed to be casting judgment upon him.

 

“What would you have said?” he asked, and then rested his head on the table. Could this day get any worse?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMMERCIAL BREAK!
> 
> Have you ever just wanted to slap someone straight in the face? Well then have no fear because The Slapper is here! Slap you're husband, slap your boss, slap your neighbor, slap your grandma! It's all fun and games! SLAP SLAP SLAP IT'S SLAPTASTIC!
> 
> Slapper(tm)doesnotholdresonsibilityforanydeathsthatoccurwhileinusenotsuitableforchildrenmustbetwentyonetopurchaseillegalinAlabamaOklahomaNewyorkandHawaii.


	3. Act 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone else was asleep, but Gordon couldn’t sleep. He would never be able to sleep again until the nightmares stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains mentions of rape/non-con, please read with care.

The Orville was quiet. It was late—almost midnight and most of the crew was asleep in their quarters. Autopilot had taken the helm, giving the command crew a well-needed rest.

 

Silently the docking bay outside doors open. A figure dressed in a black space suit drifted silently down outside the docking bay doors. Tentatively, it stuck its hand through the force field protecting the bay from the vacuum of space. The hand went through flawlessly. Then, it took a step and entered the Orville. It did not take off its spacesuit helmet as it walked through the loading bay. It paused to take a look at its reflection in one of the shuttles, pushed a button on the spacesuit arms, turning it from a dark black to camouflage transparency. It nodded in contentment and then continued walking. When it reached the inner doors, it pulled out a hacking device and connected it to the panel. With a few clicks of the buttons, it successfully put the Orville onto Lockdown. All crew doors were now sealed shut from the outside.

 

Gordon Malloy sat in engineering, trying to force himself not to fall asleep. He stared with an air of quiet concentration at the control panel, trying to see what went wrong and how to fix it. John had told him not to worry about it, that it really wasn’t his fault that it was broken but Gordon knew that deep down John blamed him. Their adventures in zero gravity earlier had fried the circuit board. It needed to be fixed. His hand shook slightly and balled his fingers into a fist. The sound of the doors opening made him jump, and he dropped the screwdriver he was holding. He looked around but didn’t see anyone. He shrugged, it was nearly midnight. Everyone else was asleep, but Gordon couldn’t sleep. He would never be able to sleep again until the nightmares stopped.

 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” a voice asked, causing him to jump again and fall over in his seat. He whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. There was a robotic beep, and the figure in the black space suit appeared, standing a few feet away from him.

 

“Who—whoo—who are----.” Gordon stuttered

 

“I always thought Union ships had a sense of grace to them, the sleek grey design with their glowing blue lights.” It—he—said, the helmet tipped upwards towards the ceiling, and then left and right taking in the room.

 

“That’s why I volunteered for this mission, to see the beauty and grace that’s inside.” He continued, now walking around the room, hands gracing over the control panels.

“Do you know what Orville means?” he asked

 

Gordon shook his head silently.

 

“The---the captain will know—will know your----,” he managed but was again cut off.

 

“I took the liberty to look it up in your language. The origin of the name is debated, but it is thought to have meant gold or golden city. But that’s not why it was named the  Orville. It was named after a young man named Orville Wright, a pilot much like yourself who wanted nothing more than to fly high in the sky. I think that’s quite poetic, don’t you?” he asked

 

“I--- I--- guess,” Gordon answered, not taking his eyes off this figure dressed all in black.

 

“The captain is locked in his quarters, as is the rest of the crew. You and I are all alone here in this room.”

 

Gordon froze, and he felt his hands start to tremble again. He quickly balled his fingers into fists. The being in the helmet noticed.

 

"That's a physiologic tremor. A symptom caused by your nervous system. When you start to feel anxious, your body releases stress hormones that send energy to your cells because your fight or flight response has been activated. When you don't use that pent-up energy, it causes the shaking."

 

Gordan quickly crossed his hands over his chest. 

 

“It means that you are afraid.” He said.

 

The being took a few steps towards him, and Gordon forced himself to remain still.

 

“You are afraid because you think I will hurt you as the Krill hurt you when they took you on board their ship. Yes, I know what happened to you. I know everything about everyone on this ship. You and the captain have been friends since childhood.”

 

Gordon sucked in an involuntary breath. 

“Why---.” Gordon started.

 

"You were there for him when he needed you the most. You picked up the pieces when he felt broken because that's what friends do. They watch out for each other, comfort each other. But you don't feel that way right now. You feel like the captain abandoned you the moment you saw the Orville flying away. You thought the captain had left you to die, like he did the others."

 

"How could you possibly know this?" Gordon asked.

 

The being tapped his helmet with his hand.

 

"I know everything. Some might call it a gift. I felt your pain even before I set foot on this ship."

 

"What else----." Gordon started, but he was cut off.

 

“You have the right to be afraid. I can be very dangerous if I want to be. I have this inner lust for human flesh. I take desire in defiling the weak. That’s why, Gordon, you are going to do everything I tell you to do or else you will be at mercy to my defiling desires. Do you understand me?”

 

Gordon nodded his head.

 

“I don’t take pride in these desires, I do not want to hurt you but if I have to I will.”

 

Gordon nodded again.

 

“Here is what’s going to happen. I’m going to tie you up. Then you are going to take me to your captain. I’m going to leave you locked in his quarters, and I am going to escort him out to my ship. I will collect my bounty for him, and then I will disappear. Simple, isn’t it?” he said

 

This time Gordon couldn’t stop himself from shaking. He felt completely helpless and at the mercy of this bounty hunter. He couldn’t think straight, his fear overcoming his cognitive thinking.

 

The bounty hunter pulled out a roll of thick black rope from his suit.

 

“Now put your hands together.”

 

888

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I borrowed the general idea of a bounty hunter sneaking onto a spaceship from the Firefly episode "Objects in Space". I wanted to see how the crew of the Orville would handle such an intruder.)
> 
> COMMERCIAL BREAK!
> 
> Bounce bounce bounce, it's the Bouncy Ball! It never stops bouncing not matter how hard you try! Little Timmy here has been bouncing his ball for days!
> 
> Timmy: I missed two weeks of school, this is great!
> 
> Bounce bounce bounce, it's the Bouncy Ball!
> 
> Dad: Timmy, come inside for dinner!
> 
> Timmy: No, I'm having fun with the Bouncy Ball. They are Bounce-tastic!
> 
> (Timmy gives thumbs up while actually dying inside)
> 
> Bounce bounce bounce, it's the Bouncy Ball!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Bouncy Ball (tm) not intended for children or the elderly. Side effects include but not limited to; anxiety, depression, heart attacks, shark attacks, squid attacks, moose attacks, turning into a werewolf during the full moon, vampirism, contracting the plague, broken limbs, vomiting, premature death, postmature death, blindness, total control loss of bowels, urinary tract infections, cannibalism, and turning into a tree. Bouncy Ball is not permitted in national or state parks. There is a $100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.68 fine for playing with Bouncy Ball outside.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed had thought that by now Gordon would have come to him, and talked to him about what happened instead of pulling himself away from them. Now he felt like Gordon would never trust him again.

Ed Mercer was awake. He had been staring out into space for the past hour and a half and he still couldn’t fall asleep. He kept playing what had happened with Gordon earlier over and over in his head. He felt that maybe he had been too harsh. Too much of a captain, and not enough of a friend. The Krill had done terrible things to Gordon, tortured him or maybe even worse and Ed had been less than sympathetic with him about it. He had thought that by now Gordon would have come to him, and talked to him about what happened instead of pulling himself away from them. Now he felt like Gordon would never trust him again.

 

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his front door opening. Instinctively he jumped out of bed and walked quickly into his living room. He froze when he saw a figure dressed in a black space suit, pointing a gun at Gordon. His hands were tied together, and a thick piece of black tape covered his mouth.

 

“Gordon,” Ed said

 

“Stop right there, Captain.” The figure in the black suit said, raising the gun from Gordon’s chest to his head.

 

“Who are you?” Ed asked

 

“A bounty hunter. I’ve come to collect you, Captain Mercer.”

 

“What?” Ed asked

 

“My employer has placed money for your head---.”

 

“I know what a bounty hunter is,” Ed interjected, looking in between the figure in the black space suit and Gordon.

 

The bounty hunter then glanced towards the window, at the endless black space swirling by. Ed took this opportunity to quickly flip his wrist and turn on the emergency podcast alert system that Isaac had installed. If it was working, it should be broadcasting everything that was said to the other officers on board the Orville.

 

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” the bounty hunter asked

 

“What is?”

 

“That you humans are capable of space travel. You think you are so technologically advanced when in reality you to us you are just in another version of the Stone Age.” The bounty hunter said.

 

“Really, and why is that?” Ed said, and he tried as hard as could to remember the Captain’s phrase for “help I am in trouble but I can’t talk right now.” What was it? It had something to do with blouses….no…..buttons. No. 12 Button fire? Butt fire? Ed fidgeted. He was running out of time, he would have to just go with it and see if they understood.

 

“It’s no butt salsa, I tell you that. I’d give you thirteen buttons for all the times' someone has said something like that.” Ed said, trying not to wince.

 

The bounty hunter turned to him.

 

“Do you think I would really not know about Union Directive 98? Believe me, captain I have done my homework. Besides, even if you did shout thirteen-button salute to the entire ship, no one would hear you. I put the ship on lockdown right after I came aboard. There is no one here to help you. Hmmm, I like the ring to that. You say it; there is no one here to help me.”

 

The bounty hunter then took his gun away from Gordon and pointed it to him.

 

“Say it.”

 

“There is no one here to help me,” Ed said, and he couldn’t stop his voice from shaking. He hoped with all his might that the EPA system was working.

 

“He resents you, you know.” The bounty hunter said after a few beats of silence.

 

“What?”

 

“For rescuing him.”

 

“Wait…why would he resent me? I rescued him. He would have died.” Ed said, and then he paused.

 

“Gordon, what did the Krill guards do?” he asked even though he knew that Gordon couldn’t answer.

 

“Look at me.”

 

Gordon stared at the ground.

 

“God damn it, Gordon. Look at me.”

 

Their eyes met and Ed forced himself not to look away from the shattered soul he saw. It was true then. This was Gordon, his childhood best friend. Happy go lucky, always smiling, never shutting up Gordon. Of all the people in the world, Gordon was the last person to deserve this.

 

“How do you know this? Who told you?” Ed asked the bounty hunter.

 

“Nobody told me. I can see it in his eyes. Who would want to be around someone so broken, someone who can’t even do his job? It might have been better to leave him to his fate, after what those Krill guards did to him.”

 

“I don’t believe what you’re saying---.”

 

“The rescue was out of pity and that’s the last thing he wants, to be pitied by you, Captain.”

 

“Stop. Stop it. It’s not true. Gordon, you know it’s not true. You’re my friend, and I would never---.

 

 

“But you did. You let it happen, Captain. It is your fault that your best friend was raped at the hand of the enemy. You have failed him, Captain Mercer.”

 

Ed looked at Gordon, but he was once again refusing to look him in the eye. Even though his hands were tied, Ed could see that they were shaking. How could he let this happen? How could he have not known? And how could he let a stranger trying to kill him spell it out for him? This guy, this bounty hunter was messing with him. Trying to throw him off his game so he could be taken quietly. He was not going to let that happen.

 

“You’re wrong,” Ed said

 

“Am I?”

 

“Yes---.”

 

A quiet electronic alarm sounded from the hunter’s suit, cutting Ed off. He swiftly turned it off with a flick on his left hand.

 

“The hour is turning late. Come, we must go.”

 

Ed didn’t move.

 

The bounty hunter pointed the gun at Gordon’s head again, this time taking the safety off.

 

“Come. Try to run and he dies.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMMERCIAL BREAK:
> 
> In a world where the people are actually cats, and cats are actually people one dog must fight back against a society that has outlawed balls. 
> 
> Dog: It's showtime.
> 
> Cat: You will never have your balls!
> 
> Human: Meow.
> 
> Dog: Hold on to your butt-lickin' tongues, it's about to get RUFF in here!
> 
> BALLS; Return of the Balls premieres on Channel 7 8/7 central time.
> 
> BE THERE OR BE BALLS.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You will put on the space suit, and then we will go to my ship.” The bounty hunter said. When Ed hesitated, the bounty hunter once again redirected his gun to Gordon.

Ed had no choice but to follow his directions. They walked silently down the empty hallway. Ed hoped that by activating his EPA someone had heard what was going on, and was going to help him. Step by step they walked towards the shuttle bay and the closer they got the heavier Ed’s heart sunk. Time for rescue was running out.

 

They entered the cargo bay, and the bounty hunter tapped a button. The bay doors opened, revealing space that was tinted green by the force field. The bounty hunter pressed another button, and the closet that contained space suits opened with a quiet swoosh.

 

“You will put on the space suit, and then we will go to my ship.” The bounty hunter said. When Ed hesitated, the bounty hunter once again redirected his gun to Gordon.  _Obey or he dies._

 

Ed nodded it did not seem like he had a choice. As slowly as he dared he began putting the suit on a piece by piece. 

 

“Who is your employer? Why would someone want the captain of a mid-level union ship?” Ed asked

 

“What will become of a ship when her captain has gone? Will she just be a hole of empty darkness surrounded by negative space? A tragedy, perhaps.” The bounty hunter said, never taking his eyes off Ed. He lowered the gun and took a step towards the captain. For the first time that night he turned away from Gordon. 

 

“She still longs for you, she tears herself apart each day for what she did to you. It eats her from the inside out, devouring her soul one small bite at a time.”

 

“Who are you talking about?” Ed asked

 

“If you wait too much longer there will be nothing left. I suppose it’s too late though for anything now, you will be long dead before she finds out you’re even missing.”

 

“Wait, are you talking about Kelly?”

 

“Get dressed, the hour turns late.”

 

Gordon looked around the room. Was it only this morning that he was caught playing zero gravity basketball in this very room? It seemed like years ago, it seemed that…… _zero gravity basketball._ An idea popped into his head. They needed to stall for time. What better way to stall than to turn off the artificial gravity? Gordon turned his body slightly, _yes_ there it was, the bright yellow button under a lid of protection flexi glass. In one swift motion he went for it, flipping the shield up with his bound hands he hit the button as hard as he could. He felt his body rise as he became weightless. It seemed to catch the bounty hunter off guard, for he shrieked in surprise and immediately began floating upside down. His gun went off into the empty room, causing it to fly sharply to the left as it shot to the right. Gordon knew his next move was risky, but he had to chance it and hope that the Captain had caught on. With all the force he could, he pushed himself off of the wall and body slammed the bounty hunter. They both went flying towards the force field. Gordon only expected the bounty hunter to hit the force field and be knocked out solid. He did not expect the bounty hunter to fly through the field and into outer space. His last thought before he hit the shield and lost consciousness was that he hoped the captain was okay.

 

Ed Mercer floated by shuttle #1 both blessing and cursing Gordon for being so stupid. Just as he started to contemplate how he was going to get down, there was a mighty war cry and the corridor doors opened. Bortus, Kelly, John, Keyali, Claire, and Isaac ran full force into zero gravity and were hoisted up into the air.

 

“So you guys did get my message?” Ed asked casually.

 

“Ed, are you alright? Where is he?” Kelly asked, Ed looked at her and she looked back at him. There it was, smile number 17— _I was worried sick about you and I’m glad you are okay_. Yes, Ed had smiles for Kelly too.

 

“I’m fine. He is long gone. Gordon pushed him out the back.” Ed explained, gesturing towards the floating unconscious Gordon.

 

“Oh my god. Ed. Gordon.” Kelly said, looking at him with wide eyes.

 

“I know, Kel. You all could hear?” he asked

 

“I didn’t know. There was so much I didn’t know. Will he be okay?” Kelly asked.

 

“God I hope so. I couldn’t live with myself if he wasn’t.” Ed said

 

Bortus floated by Ed, holding a metal frying pan.

 

“I assembled a rescue squad as quickly as I could, Captain. The EPA system works without any flaws. We could hear everything.” Bortus said.

 

“Yes. The talk about butt salsa was quite enlightening. I will have to add it to my list of biological jokes. What I found more informative though was the thorough discussion of Lieutenant Malloy’s deteriorating state of mind.” Isaac chimed in as he floated past.

 

“We couldn’t get to the armory on time. We had to improvise.” Bortus explained, holding up his frying pan.

 

“See the importance synthesized weapons now?”

 

“Mmmmhmmmm.”

 

“Okay everyone, I have made my way down to the artificial gravity unit. I’m going to turn it on. Prepare yourselves, this ain’t going to be pretty.” Keyali shouted.

 

There was a metallic twang, and everything that was floating came crashing to the ground along with a chorus of grunts and moans.

 

Claire was up on her feet first, and she ran towards Gordon. By the time Ed got there, she had pulled off the rope binding his hands.

 

“Will he’ll be okay?” Ed asked

 

Claire sighed. “He won’t be playing zero gravity basketball anytime soon, but he’ll live. When he’s better I suggest you two have a good talk.”

 

Ed smiled. Claire always had good advice.

 

“Oh. We will. No doubt about that.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMMERCIAL BREAK.
> 
> Acid Ice Cream.
> 
> The perfect summer treat for your enemies.
> 
> Get it today at an ice cream store near you!


	6. Act 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything had seemed so simple back then before all this had happened, and now he barely knew what to say. He couldn’t even begin to worry about the bounty hunter, or his employer or even who wanted his head. It all seemed too convoluted and far away for Ed to wrap his head around.

Ed watched through the sickbay windows as Claire and her attendants gently moved Gordon into a hospital bed. After a few minutes, Claire came back out of the patient room.

 

“Other than that bump on his head, he is fine. I was able to fix it in a matter of minutes.”

 

“Good.”

 

“Claire….did you hear everything…..everything that was said?” Ed asked

 

Claire nodded, “I did. It’s a shame that bounty hunter chose such a dark life. He could have been useful  for the union.”

 

“Do you think he was telling the truth?”

 

“Yes, and no. I think he was telling you what he knew would frighten you to manipulate you into doing what he wanted.”

 

“But what he said about Gordon, about him wishing I never rescued him because…because of what the Krill did. Do you think that’s true? Do you think Gordon actually thought I would leave him or….think any less of him if I knew?” Ed asked

 

“Gordon’s thoughts are his own, and he has a right to tell you whatever he feels comfortable. What the bounty hunter did was terrible, and wrong.” Claire said.

 

“I tried earlier in my office get Gordon to talk to me, and he pushed me away and I became so frustrated that he wouldn’t tell me anything. I feel so awful, Claire, like I let him down.”

 

“It’s not your fault. You did everything you could. Everyone deals with pain in different ways.”

 

“What should I do, Claire? I have no idea what to say.”

 

“Be there for him. If he talks, listen and if he doesn’t, honor his choice. Let him know that he is safe with you and that he can trust you.” Claire said

 

“Can I sit with him? Someone should be here when he wakes up.”

 

Claire nodded, “Of course. I’ll be in my office if you need anything.”

 

Ed walked over to where Gordon’ s bed was and sat down in a chair next to it. He looked at Gordon’s young, fully healed face and found himself wishing that none of this had ever happened. That the Krill had never come, that Gordon hadn’t been taken, that the bounty hunter had stayed away. Everything had seemed so simple back then before all this had happened, and now he barely knew what to say. He couldn’t even begin to worry about the bounty hunter, or his employer or even who wanted his head. It all seemed too convoluted and far away for Ed to wrap his head around. It all seemed----.

 

Ed’s thoughts were cut off by Gordon shifting slightly in the bed, he was beginning to wake up. Ed froze, what should he do? Should he smile? Laugh? Make some dumb joke about zero gravity basketball? What should he---.

 

Gordon’s eyes flashed open and he started, pushing himself upwards and in a sudden rush of panic.

  
“Gordon, Gordon it’s okay. You’re safe here. You are in sickbay on the Orville. It’s me, it’s Ed.” Ed said softly, and he made a motion to grab Gordon’s wrists to keep him from flying off the bed but Gordon winced and flinched away from his outstretched hands. Ed lowered his hands slowly.

 

“You’re okay. You’re safe.” Ed repeated.

 

Gordon nodded and then settled himself back into the bed.

 

“Do you want to sit up?” Ed asked, and then he handed Gordon the bed controller. Gordon took it, and the bed slowly rose to a sitting position.

 

Gordon gave Ed a small smile.

 

“Hey.” He said

 

“Hey”

 

“What happened? I don’t remember much after I hit the zero gravity switch.” Gordon asked.

 

“You ran head first into a docking bay force field.”

 

“Ouch.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

There was a strained silence, where they looked at everything in the room except for each other.

 

“You were very brave.” Ed finally said

 

Gordon looked up at him.

 

“If our roles had been switched, if he had found me by myself in engineering I definitely would not have been as cool and calm as you were”

 

Gordon scoffed but then smiled. “You know me, I’m the coolest cat in town.”

 

“You did some quick thinking in there, turning off the zero gravity. I would have never thought of that.”

 

“How did the others escape from their quarters?” Gordon asked.

 

“Isaac told me he was able to hack into the system from his unit and disable whatever lock the bounty hunter had put on the doors. Just in time, too. It wasn’t a very strong lock.” Ed said.

 

“Any sign of him?”

 

“We scanned the area, but both him and whatever ship he was on has vanished.”

 

“Good”

 

There was another long pause. Gordon fiddled with the bed sheets. Only then did Ed notice that Gordon’s hands were shaking. Was he making him nervous, just sitting here?

 

“And um… I also wanted to tell you that I’m sorry about the way I acted before in my office. I was being Captain Jerkface. I should have given you your space when you asked.” Ed finally said.

 

Gordon nodded.

 

“I thought that if I didn’t talk about it, that it would go away and I’d forget. I should have told you.” He said.

 

 

“What the bounty hunter said----.” Ed started.

 

“He was messing with us, Ed. Trying to throw us off our feet. He did the same thing to me before he went to your quarters.”

 

“He must have sensed that I felt guilty, which I did. Still do, actually. I keep turning what the Krill did over in my mind, and trying to find a way I could have prevented it.”

 

“It’s not your fault, Ed. It’s not going to be easy, but I think I am going to be okay.”

 

“You can talk to me about what happened, you know that right?” Ed asked.

 

Gordon nodded. “I know, but I don’t think I can…not yet.”

 

“When you are ready. There is no rush.”

 

“ And….it doesn’t really matter what happened to me, it’ll pass with time. At least I hope it will. What matters is that I never lost hope that you would come back for me. Even when the others were dead, I knew you wouldn’t stop trying to get me out of there.” Gordon said.

 

“You were right. I never gave up until we had you back on board. You’re my best friend, Gordon. I will always be there for you.”

 

Gordon nodded, and finally,  _finally_ he reached towards Ed and touched his arm gently.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“You’re welcome”

 

Gordon squeezed his arm slightly, and then let go. They looked at each other, and Ed felt something settling between them the way things do with old friends. Once again silence fell between them, but this time it was a comfortable one.

 

 

“Hey, I am starving. What do you think Claire has to eat in here?” Gordon asked, and he smiled the first true smile Ed had seen in days.

 

Ed nodded, and then laughed.

 

“I know just the thing.” He said, and then he stood up and walked over to the synthesizer.

 

“Two cannabis edibles, please.” He said, and he watched as two small brownies appeared on the plate. He picked it up and walked back over to Gordon.

 

“Today seems like the perfect day for a cannabis edible, don’t you think?”

 

Gordon smiled.

 

“Hell yeah.”

 

THE END

(Roll credits)

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COMMERCIAL BREAK!
> 
> Give her something she will love this Valentine's day. Introducing chocolate dipped cheddar cheese puffs. Creamy dark chocolate covers a savory cheesy crunch stick that your sweetheart will die for. Introducing: DESSERT DESIRE, the cheese stick that is covered in chocolate. 
> 
> Author's note:
> 
> Thank you all for reading, commenting and giving kudos! Writing in the Orville fandom has been so much fun, and everyone has been so nice. I am looking forward to reading and writing more. And OMG the season finale is next week, and I not ready for it to be over. Maybe I'll just have to keep writing my own episodes :)
> 
> Orville Forever!!! 
> 
> <3 Songsofpsyche


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